Seekess
by Lynn Jones
Summary: It's the middle of the Great War, and nothing could bring more terror to the ground soldiers on the battlefield than an appearance by the Seekers. Nothing could be worse than them, right? Except maybe GIRL Seekers - or Seekesses. continued in next story: Fly
1. Prologue

Hello. I just wanted to say, I DO NOT own the TFs. I DO, however, own Draft and her trine, thank you very much. The others…and the whole Seekess thing…I don't own. Duh. Anyway, enjoy!

Prologue

"Oh, slag, it's _them_!" one of the ground soldiers screamed. He couldn't help it; jet alt mode, wings, arm-mounted rifles…All pointed to his immediate death.

"Slag it all!" one of his comrades yelped. He threw down his weapon (which probably wouldn't have done him any good anyway) and held his hands up. Not that _they_ usually took prisoners. Still…they could always hope, right?

"Primus, save us, it's the Seekers!" another soldier yelled.

"Which ones?" someone who wasn't quite so up close and personal with the elite troops asked.

"Does it matter?" the first soldier demanded. "We're just as dead, whether it's the rainmakers, cone heads, or….Primus, I hope it's not those psychos."

"Wait a cycle! Those aren't Decepticons!" his friend exclaimed.

"What?" someone at the back gasped.

"I think you've got a few million wires crossed," someone else agreed. Then the first soldier got a clearer look at the 'Seekers', and saw something was different.

"No, no, it's true! Look! Look at their wings! They've got the Autobot insignia on their wings!" he shouted, his own disbelief evident in his voice.

"Hey, they're right! They're Autobots, like us!" another soldier cried. The whole squad was nearly shaking in relief. They'd been fighting the Decepticons for almost a stellar cycle, and they were close to being overrun.

"No," a new voice – one none of them knew – contradicted. "Not like you." One of the three newcomers was talking to them, having landed in time to hear the end of their conversation.

"Holy slag!" the squad leader whispered. "They aren't like us! No, they're _girls_ – Seeker girls!"

"Seekesses," the leader, an optic-smarting scarlet, corrected. "We're Seekesses. I'm Draft. Are you boys ready to kick some Decepticon skidplate? We are."


	2. Job Description

Hello again. Once again, I do not own the TFs. Also once again, I do own Draft and her trine. Thanks for reading! Enjoy!

"I really wish you'd quit doing that," Breeze commented.

"What? I scouted, that's all! You act like scouting is a bad thing!" Slipstream protested. Breeze – Bree – sighed.

"Scouting is one thing, but terrorizing our own troops with your weapons displays is another, and that's bad," my trinemate snapped. I sighed. Slipstream was a little reckless, and Breeze was a little cautious. Of course, neither was really mad at the other; they were just arguing for the sake of having something to do. Trinemates did not stay mad at each other for long. At least, we didn't. I don't know how it is for other trines, but we're sisters, not just random Seekesses thrown together by chance.

"Oh, would you two stop it?" I asked. I kept my tone carefully light so that they would know that I was not really angry with them. "We have got to focus, remember?"

"Aw, Draft, you're no fun!" they chorused. This was almost a pre-mission ritual with us. We were, after all, the Autobot Elders' last resort – mostly because they didn't want to deal with us more than was absolutely necessary. Honestly, though, the feeling was mutual. We didn't like them any more than they liked us. I mean, come on! It was their fault that we Seekesses (and our male counterparts, the Seekers) no longer had a city of our own. They had destroyed Vos and killed our leader, Jetstream, and his Sparkmate, Vectra. Their creations – their sons – hadn't been seen since. No one was happy with us. Slag, even WE weren't happy with us. It had been our job to keep an eye on the Elders, and look what had happened!

"Come on, there are reports of gestalts there, we have to check it out. Plus, there are…there are _three_ Seeker trines on Earth," I reminded them. Bree nodded in agreement, remembering.

"Yeah, there's those cone heads, the rainmakers, and…"

"Those three psychos. I've heard them referred to as simply 'The Seekers', kind of like we're just 'The Seekesses'," Slipstream finished. I nodded, feeling slightly like a bobble-head. "Does anyone actually know what their names are?"

"No. The Elders won't tell me anything about them at all. It's like they're afraid that if we find out, they won't be able to control us anymore," I confessed. As trine leader, I had the honor – or horror – of dealing with the Elders. Ick. "I don't like it one bit, but orders are orders, right?" _And therefore made to be broken_. I could almost see the second half of our private motto in their bright green optics.

"All right, but I get to prep the _Updraft_!" Bree called, darting for the door. Slipstream shook her head and grinned.

"Awesome. I get weapons check!" She followed Bree out. This was another of our little rituals that made life under the Elders' thumbs tolerable. Each of us had our pre-arranged tasks, and we all knew who did what. Bree was always in charge of our ship, the _Updraft_. Slipstream was in charge of weapons and tools and the like. I was in charge of arrangements with other bots. I got our provisions, researched our destination, and monitored our Energon cache. Of course, we always made a big show out of vying for the 'best' job.

"Hurry! The Elders want us gone by the end of the solar cycle at the latest!" I called after my trinemates. A moment later, Slipstream's reply came floating back down the hall.

"_They want us gone – they don't care when or how or why, as long as we're gone. They would prefer it if we didn't come back, either!"_ she shouted. I sighed again (feeling like an air conditioning unit) and began to inventory our Energon cache.

Feeling slightly melancholy, I pulled up one of the few pictures on my data pad. The picture showed a cobalt blue and shimmering silver Seekess – my mother. Behind her was a taller, broader figure: her Seeker Sparkmate, my father. A trine of Seeker sparklings played around their feet.

Oh, slag it all," I whispered. "The Elders don't hate us just because we're Seekers – or Seekesses, really. They hate us because of which Seekesses we are. They hate us because of our family." We all knew it, but we never talked about it.

Our creators, Jetstream and Vectra, had made sure we survived the Elders' inevitable attack on Vos. I knew they would have done their best to make sure our brothers survived, too, even as young as they were at the time.

That was why we stayed with the Autobots. We wanted to leave the war, but this was our best chance of finding our brothers; the Elders sent us after Seeker trines all the time. I hoped desperately that we would find them. I needed to see the three of them, even if they were Decepticons now. If that was what they were, I would also need to bash their helms in and drag them onto the _Updraft_ and keep them there for as long as it took for the war to end or for them to denounce the Decepticons.

I was their sister; it was my job.

Thanks for reading! How about that, huh? Any ideas who their brothers are, and where they'll find them?


	3. Warm Welcome from our Allies

Chapter 2

"Earth? The planet's called _Earth_?" You might as well call it 'Dirt' or 'Mudball' and be done with it!" Slipstream grumbled. Privately, I agreed with my sister, but I didn't say so out loud. I just gave her a wry grin and went to help Breeze set up the cloaking device. Just because we were the most effective team in the Autobot army (which is why the Elders kept us around), didn't mean we liked to advertize our presence. It was quite the opposite, actually. Our stealth was part of what made us so good.

Once our ship, _Updraft_, was safely cloaked, we changed into something more comfortable for our tour of Earth's muddiness. Namely, we just Transformed into our cool new Earth-style jet modes, and then went exploring.

"Draft?" Bree called after a while. "I'm picking up a comm hail on the local Autobot frequency." That was why we kept the Elders around. As members of the Autobots, we could patch into most of the comm channels they used. That way, we could pick up any mention of our brothers…if they were still alive. I grimaced inwardly. Fantastic.

"Patch it through," I ordered at last. The channel opened as I braced myself for an unpleasant conversation. The Autobots on the planets we visited were usually not happy to see us.

"Unidentified Seekers, this is security chief Red Alert. Identify yourselves; you are in Autobot airspace. Identify, or we will shoot you out of the sky!" Like I said, usually unhappy to see us. Especially if they mistook us for Seekers – which was often.

"Oh, would you calm down before you overload your mainframe? We're on your side!" I snapped. "I am Seekess Draft. My trinemates and I are here on a mission for the Autobot Elders on Cybertron. I will be by your base to collect all the information you have on the local Seeker trines."

"Seekess? Now, that's a title I haven't heard in a long time," the Autobot commented. Primus, he sounded old when he said that.

"And hopefully you won't hear my title again. I want this to be a short, isolated visit," I replied.

"We're just here to collect some out of control Seeker trines. Then we'll go our own sweet way, and you ground soldiers can go back to twiddling your thumbs," Slipstream added tartly.

"_Twiddling my thumbs_?" Red Alert echoed. "We're fighting _Megatron_ here, you spoiled, stuck-up…"

"Who in the name of Primus are you talking to, Red Alert?" someone on the other end of the comm asked. Assuming that the unknown Transformer could hear me, I went ahead and took the liberty of answering for Red Alert, who I was liking less and less. Obviously, he didn't know much about Seekesses.

"I am Seekess Draft," I announced again. There was silence on the other end for a long while.

"Draft?" I new voice asked. This voice I recognized from the days before the bombing of Vos. My whole trine recognized that voice.

"Skyfire?" we chorused.

"What in the name of Primus are you girls doing on Earth?" the old science-inclined Seeker demanded.

"We aren't just girls anymore; we're full Seekesses now. Try and keep up, old-timer," Slipstream jibed.

"Well, Slipstream, I see you've developed quite the acid tongue," Skyfire remarked. I swear, the violet Seekess positively beamed.

"I try," she agreed happily.

"Look, not that this isn't heartwarming and all, but we've really got to get you three out of our airspace," Red Alert snapped, interrupting our conversation. Primus, these security guys are rude.

"Killjoy," Slipstream muttered.

"That's fine," I agreed quickly. "Where do you want us to land?" I inquired. I think I heard Red Alert say something along the lines of "not here" but Skyfire gave us directions to the Autobot base.

We screamed earthward a few minutes later, Transforming as we landed, so we came in feet first. Yes, it was a Seeker move. We Seekesses had stolen it long ago. We did it to show the whole of Cybertron that we could do anything a Seeker could do and more.

We entered the base and were greeted by a red and white Autobot who I assumed was Red Alert. Skyfire and a few other Autobots were behind him. A blue and red mech stepped forward.

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. Welcome to Earth," he greeted us. I bowed, assessing him critically.

"Thank you," I said, making it clear with my tone that I didn't need his welcome; it wasn't like he owned the planet.

"Yes, thank you, your planet here…Mud, was it? Lovely place. We can't wait to leave," Slipstream grumbled. Prime seemed slightly taken aback by her words; maybe his soldiers hadn't warned him about her sharp tongue. He seemed confused, too.

"Ah, yes….Well, I wanted to ask…why are you here, again?"

I could tell it was going to be a LONG day.


	4. Dates With Devils

Chapter 4

"Well, as dates go, they aren't half bad," Slipstream quipped as we approached the Seekers. I saw the coneheads stiffen in midair.

"This does not qualify as a 'date' Seekess," Ramjet growled. "This is a formal meeting." He was mostly white, with dark gray accents on his wings, boots, hands, and face. Thrust, on his right, was red, with the same deep gray accents. Dirge, on Ramjet's left, was blue with brown.

"Sure, Seeker Ramjet, have it your way," Slipstream agreed indifferently, adjusting her molecular displacer ray. All three cone-headed Seekers tensed to flee. I lifted my arm in front of my purple sister.

"No, Slipstream, not yet. Ramjet wanted to talk," I reminded her. Ramjet nodded sharply.

"Yes, I did. I've been hearing a rumor that you three lovely Seekesses are here on Earth to kill all Seekers based on this planet," he informed us coolly. Breeze gasped audibly, a look of shock and horror plastered on her faceplate.

"Of course not!" Slipstream exclaimed. The coneheads visibly relaxed; Seekers were taught to trust Seekesses. After all, we were their better halves (according to an old Seeker we'd come across once). Slipstream moved in for the figurative kill. "No, we're not going to kill you. We're going to beat you unconscious and drag your sorry skidplates back to the Autobot Elders so they can kill you!"

Immediately, the coneheads Transformed and took off – literally. I launched myself after them, soaring high into the sky and sliding easily into my jet mode and pursuing them. Slipstream flew left and Breeze flew right – my wonderful wingmen – or wingbots, as the case may be.

"Remember, we need them alive – in case we _don't_ take them to the Elders," I told my trine mates. Breeze peeled off from the rest of us and shot ahead. She came up in front of the Seekers, who slammed on the brakes and came to an unsteady halt before her.

"I'm faster than you are," she informed them calmly. Their engines stalled for an instant. Then they tried to dodge around her. Breeze reversed, weaving in front of them, keeping them where they were. Unnoticed by the Seekers, Slipstream soared high, and then dove straight into the middle of their arrow formation. Her left wing clipped Dirge's right, her right sliced Thrust's left, and her razor-sharp, diamond-hard tail fin smashed into Ramjet's rear thrusters. Slipstream banked hard and righted herself as the Seekers wobbled in the air for a moment before plummeting to the earth below.

"Summer's over, boys! Have a nice fall!" she shouted after them.

"How much TV have you been watching?" Thrust screamed right before he hit the dirt in a painful way.

"None!" my lavender-armored sister answered, though I doubted any of the three could hear her right then.

"What's 'TV'?" Bree asked. We landed, switching back to robot mode. I shrugged.

"No clue." I strode over to the crumpled forms of the Seekers. They were pretty busted up. "What a load of scrap metal! Seekers just aren't as sturdy as they used to be."

"You're telling me?" Bree muttered. I grabbed the nearer conehead – Dirge – and lumbered back into the air. The rusting lugnut was _heavy_! Slipstream and Bree followed my example.

Later, with the coneheads stored away safely in separate cells, Bree set up a jamming signal so no Decepticon frequencies would carry within a five-kilometer radius of the _Updraft_. She left the Seeker-only homing beacons active, though – we _wanted_ the other Seeker trine to find us. We just didn't want them to bring any non-Seeker friends along.


	5. Capture the Seeker

Chapter 3

"We are here to round up a few trines of rogue Seekers," I stated, slightly less patiently than the last thirty times I'd said it. "If you aren't going to help us, then we'll just get out of your way." With that, I turned on my heel and stalked out of the chamber. Slag, but ground-walkers were annoying. Skyfire caught up with us just before we left their ship. He reached out and put a hand on my arm.

"Can't you girls stay for a while, Draft? Jetstream and I were friends – good friends – and I was devastated when he died. And I was worried about you sparklings…"

"Skyfire, thanks for the offer, but we're not welcome here. The three trines we've been sent to get rid of have left these Autobots with a bad attitude toward anything that even resembles a Seeker. And we're not sparklings anymore. WE just need information about them. Then we'll take them in, get on the _Updraft_, and go back to Cybertron," I said tiredly. Bree moved closer, sensing my agitation, and Slipstream was looking around for an Autobot or other offending Cybertronian to hit.

"I thought you might say something like that. I found some information for you." He held out a data card. I took it and forced a smile. "Just…come back in one piece, all right? We've got to talk sometime." He looked old and worn for an instant. Then he turned away for a moment. When he turned back, the old expression was gone.

"Sure, Skyfire," I assured him, troubled. "Just make sure we've got something to come back _to_." He nodded. I subspaced the datacard and lead my trine out of the ship.

"Come on, let's get back to the _Updraft_," I suggested. Slipstream Transformed and rocketed away in her jet form.

"Race you!" she called back to us on our private channel. Bree and I glanced at each other before Transforming and following our more outgoing sister. For the moment, I didn't think. I felt the sun on my scarlet armor, and the happiness flowing through my trine spark-bonds. I savored the cool wind, the rush of speed, the feeling of sheer joy. I loved to fly.

"Flying is the greatest sport, for if you lose, you are dead," Bree quoted. I laughed.

"Where's that from?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. An Earth datalog, I think."

"It's fitting," I commented, tilting into a barrel roll. My sister laughed and copied me. WE caught up to Slipstream above the _Updraft_. Our ship is the odd orange-brown color common to Autobot space crafts. Color was the only thing the _Updraft_ had in common with regular Autobot vessels, though. Our ship combined the functions and build of a diplomatic craft (its original function), a prison ship, and a battle cruiser.

"Home sweet home," Bree muttered.

"_Updraft_ security stand down," I ordered. The cloaking device that kept the _Updraft_ secure (and made it look like part of the surrounding forest) switched off as we descended.

The three of us dispersed to ur own quarters. Mine were simple, almost bare; just a recharge berth, a small personal consol that interfaced with the ship, and a shelf with a few small holo-projections. I sighed and connected to the ship's mainframe out of habit.

_Message for Seekess Draft,_ the screen flashed. I accessed the message – it was on the standard Seeker channel. _Welcome to Earth. I am Seeker Ramjet, trine leader of the Coneheads. I would like to meet you and your trine, and greet you in person, as a Seeker should when a Seekess comes to visit. Would you and your sisters meet us at the following coordinates? No tricks, please. I would like to keep this pleasant._

I sat backand frowned at the screen, disconnecting from the computer. Hmmmm…. Bree, Slipstream, and I could take on any Seeker trine, easy. I patched into the comm. System.

"Get your weapons, girls," I ordered. "We've got a date with three ugly devils."

In case anyone was wondering, Breeze's quote, "Flying is the greatest sport, for if you lose, you are dead" comes from one of the Inheritance books – Eldest, I think. It seemed to fit the Seekesses and their mission – destroy or capture the Decepticon Seekers.


	6. Rain to go With My Parade

Chapter 5

I woke from recharge when the ship rocked like there was a violent revolution going on below the Dirtball's surface. I practically leapt from my berth and dashed to the interface panel.

"What is going on out there?" I demanded. The screen flashed twice, signaling an incoming communication.

_Message to Seekess Draft,_ the screen read. _Release Dirge, Ramjet, and Thrust immediately. If you do not comply, we will destroy your ship._

Well! Apparently some idiotic Seekers wanted to play 'Biggest Bully' - and, judging from the energy signature thoughtfully attached to the message, it was Acidrain who thought he could threaten a Seekess trine and live to tell the tale.

"Draft, the rainmakers are attacking the _Updraft_," Bree informed me over the comm.

"_Updraft_ security online," I ordered calmly. "Breeze, Slipstream, let's make our guests feel …welcome, shall we?" We exited the _Updraft_ and took to the sky. The rainmakers dove at us, arm-mounted lasers spitting. Slipstream rolled almost lazily away. "Scatter! Pick 'em off!"

"Can I torture them?" Slipstream laughed as one of them – yellow Sunstorm – fired at her again.

"Don't you always?" I replied. My sister grinned wickedly and launched a few rounds at them with a casual motion.

"I do my best – or worst," she agreed matter-of-factly. Then she flew forward to torment our visitors with her razor-sharp tongue.

"Breeze, I want you above them in case they try to fly away," I told my sky blue sister. She gave a slightly mocking military salute (_You don't have to teach _me _strategy, sister,_ she was telling me) and streaked up. I took aim with my arm-mounted stun ray and fired. The neon blue Seeker – Rainstorm – shouted and swerved away. Breeze dropped down on him, titanium-plated foot first. Sunstorm turned and tried to launch himself at her, but Slipstream delivered a sharp, distracting kick to the thrusters of his Cybertronian-style jet mode. He yelped, transformed, and spun to face her, an impressive dent in what was now his left foot. She kicked his midsection and danced out of the way when he tried to shoot her. I could hear her increasingly insulting comments – on his aim, his armor, his paint color, even his trine – as I squared off with the trine leader, Acidrain.

"What have you done with the coneheads? Why are you here?" he demanded, throwing a punch. I bared my teeth and caught his fist easily.

"I did the same thing I'm going to do to you!" I replied, twisting his arm behind his back. "By the way, 'Rain, did you fly into a cloud of something that messed up your paint job?" He was an eye-searing sickly green. "I'm sure you didn't _mean_ to look like a hunk of moldy slag."

"_What?_ Why, you –"

"Calm down, Moldrain," I ordered, snapping my fist into one of his shoulder-mounted laser rifles, then the other.

"And what, exactly, was _that_ supposed to do?" he demanded, not realizing that both muzzles were now bent way out of shape.

"Make you stupid. Did it work? I can't tell," I replied, shrugging. Then I kicked his leg, denting his heel, which was also his thruster. He tried to fire, but the lasers jammed and backfired from the damage to the barrels. This sent him careening off balance. He tried to fire up his thrusters next, but one of them was now severely – and conveniently – twisted. He fell.

"I suppose I should catch him," I mused. "He _is_ supposed to be delivered to the Elders more or less alive." I considered for a long moment, then shrugged and dove after Acidrain.


	7. As Good as Dead

**Oh, wow, it's been forever since I updated this story; I've been focusing on Colla IV. But today I find myself inspired to put another chapter of this story up.**

**Disclaimer: unfortunately, while one can buy Hasbro stock, one cannot buy the Transformers from Hasbro. So, also unfortunately, I do not own them.**

Ch.6 As Good as Dead

"Six down, three to go," I murmured, turning the datacard Skyfire had given me over in my hands. I inserted it into my datapad. The screen blinked, and I accessed the datacard. There was only one file, the only file Skyfire thought we would need, I guess. It was labeled _unnamed Seeker trine_. I was fairly sure it would only contain information about the one remaining Earthbound trine, the one referred to simply as the Seekers. Of course I opened the file.

_Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp,_ the three headings within the file read. My spark churned. I had to surpress the urge to wipe the whole datacard, but I forced myself to read, a faint hope clutched tightly in my mind. After all, there _were_ sometimes duplicate names. And typos. Then I saw the accompanyin images.

_ Oh, Primus, it's them,_ I thought, and forced myself to read what they had become. Skywarp was seemingly dim, and brutal. Thundercracker had gone from a sweet, shy sparkling to a trigger-happy idiot who blindly followed his trine leader. Starscream…Starscream had become Megatron's ambitious, stubborn, foolish, and often cruel second-in-command. He was a treacherous sadist.

"What happened to you three? Are you even a trine anymore?" I whispered. I didn't see how any Seeker could undergo such a radical change and still remain tied to his trine.

_Thundercracker and Skywarp are often seen together, but almost never with Starscream, the trine leader. They have split._

Those last three words sank into my spark like an energon blade into armor. _They have split._

"Oh, Primus," I gasped.

_Draft!_ The cry came, not through the comm system, but through my spark. My trinemates could feel my pain and anger and despair and whatever else I was feeling at that moment. Whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant. Still, we were a trine, linked…unlike the Seekers who remained free on Earth.

_It's all right, I'm fine,_ I assured them. I repeated the words over and over, trying to calm myself and my sisters. Then I knew what I had to do. Skyfire trusted us to do our duty as Seekesses, where he and his fellow Autobots could not do as he was obligated as a Seeker.

"_Updraft,_ locate Seekers Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Starscream," I ordered. The screen in front of me blinked twice to indicate the ship had understood and was complying. The ship would find them. And we would hunt them down – one by one if we had to – and capture them. Then we would escape this Mudball called Earth and return home.

I knew the Elders would probably order the deaths of all three Decepticon trines. I also knew that the cone heads and rainmakers could be reprogrammed, and it would hold, through their spark chords. But the trine I really wanted back, the trine I was desperate to save, could not be spared. The Elders would never in a million stellar cycles allow the second in command of the Decepticon army to live.

A split trine could not be reprogrammed. They were only connected by the thinnest of spark chords, and one or all three not connected to the others at all. They no longer cared about one another, and didn't get along. The duty of all Seekers and Seekesses was to hunt down and destroy a split trine, because they would go insane and wreak untold havoc on themselves and everyone around them.

No Seeker or Seekess could let a split trine live. The Elders would never let any of them live, but definitely not a split trine of monsters.

Either way, this trine was as good as dead. I grieved silently, but I knew they weren't the same sparklings I had known and grieved for when I thought them dead.

They had been my brothers, but they weren't anymore. Either way, by my hand or by the Elders' orders, their days were numbered. If only the Elders could be convinced to let us try the one cure for a split trine. But they would never allow it.

"Seekers Thundercracker, Skywarp, Starscream, located," the _Updraft_ reported.

It was time.

Time to destroy the mechs my brothers had become.

**Okay, so, that's chapter 6. I finally got to reveal their brothers' identities, and the mysteries of the datacard!**

**Please r&r, but no flaming, please. My Seekesses are many things, but fireproof they are not!**


	8. Thundercracker & Skywarp

**Well, I'm on a roll! Two chapters in a week! Anyway, sorry ahead of time to the TC and 'Warp fans out there. This chapter is a little violent (dying Seekers and all). Just a heads-up.**

Ch.7 Thundercracker & Skywarp

Once I had reached my decision about my brothers, I had to gather my sisters. They understood; in fact, I think they guessed from the pain they felt through their own sparks. They agreed wholeheartedly: it was better that we give them a relatively painless death, rather than the probably agonizing and public execution awaiting them on Cybertron.

Thundercracker was flying solo over the Canadian Shield, over a large lake, when we caught up with him. Breeze had volunteered to dispose of him. It hurt, but she had insisted. I knew Thundercracker had been her favorite when our brothers were sparklings. I guess that's why she felt it was her personal duty to, well…

Bree hovered in her robot mode, waiting for the dark sky-blue Seeker to notice her. When he did, he opened a general Seeker comm channel.

"Greetings, Seekess," he greeted her politely, bowing formally – a feat for an airborne Seeker.

"Greetings, Seeker," Bree answered, her voice shaking just the slightest bit. "I'm Breeze. I'm afraid I must…I must…" She was losing it. And Thundercracker who seemed so much like his sparkling self, not the trigger-happy Decepticon Skyfire had reported, was so not helping.

_Maybe we should step in,_ Slipstream suggested hesitantly.

_She'd never forgive us,_ I replied.

"Capture me? I heard what happened to the other Seekers. I won't put up a fight," he assured her. Bree's sorrow, her spark-deep grief, shook all three of us. The Seeker flew a little closer to my sister, holding out his wrists as though waiting for energon bonds. Comparatively tiny Bree shook her head sadly.

"Oh, brother, I'm so sorry," she whispered. "Your trine split. It is my duty now…I've come to kill you." Before the Decepticon – before my brother – could register this, before Breeze could allow herself second thoughts, she snapped a foot out and into his torso. He crumpled and almost fell, but Breeze caught him. Her kick had dislodged his chest armor – a tribute to my sister's hidden strength – and his spark chamber was laid bare. With a spark-wrenching sob, she seized it and yanked, snapping the wires that connected it to his body as she did so.

Thundercracker went limp, and Breeze lost her grip on him. The sky-blue form of my brother plummeted into the silvery-blue expanse of the Shield lake below. In her trembling hand, Breeze held the spark of what was once a noble Seeker.

Slipstream lead the way to Skywarp's last known coordinates and found him collapsed on the ground, clutching at his chest. He'd felt Thundercracker die. I didn't know whether to be glad that those two, at least, had had some connection left, or to be saddened that Skywarp had had to go through the pain of losing a trinemate.

Slipstream landed next to the purple and black Seeker. He stared at her, optics flaring slightly, possibly in fear.

"I am so sorry for your pain, brother," she whispered.

"I'm sure you are. And I'm not your brother," he growled. Then he appeared to take in her coloring. I felt my own pain and each of my sisters' as he added, "Am I?"

"Yes, you are, Skywarp. I can help you, if you will let me; I can take away your pain," Slipstream offered. Her voice did not betray the meaning of her words, and the agonized Seeker took them at face value. Or maybe he welcomed the meaning behind them.

"All...all right," he agreed, relaxing somewhat against the rocky ground. With her teal optics way, way too bright with sorrow, Slipstream quickly accessed and disconnected his spark before he realized what she was doing. Bree sobbed in the air above them, hovering beside me, and I reached across our bond to comfort her. Slipstream dragged the broken body to a nearby hill and fired into the soil, creating a crater large enough for our brother. Then she fired again, causing a tide of disgusting earth to encase him. Then she ascended to where Bree and I hovered, cradling Skywarp's spark. I reached out and touched both of them on the arm.

"Neither of you have to come with me," I told them softly. Bree shook her head, and Slipstream stared at me.

"We're coming with you," she insisted, determination ringing in her voice.

**Well, that's chapter 7. Just one more Seeker left one Earth. That'll be next chapter. Then I'm planning an epilogue, just to wrap everything up.**

**Again, reviews are welcome, and again, if you want to say nasty, mean stuff about my story, please do it somewhere besides where I'll read it. I don't mind criticism, but I do mind overboard stuff. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	9. Starscream and New Vos

**Well, this is the eighth – and final – chapter. In this chapter, well…I'll let you find out for yourself.**

I found Starscream somewhere in the Himalayan mountain range, streaking for the Nemesis's ocean hiding place. Unlike Skywarp, the former trine leader showed no sign of pain at his brothers' deaths.

_Starscream split the trine,_ I thought. _He's the weak link, the reason Skywarp and Thundercracker had to die._ And as such, he deserved no warning. I dove, leaving my sisters in the clouds, and slammed a heel into the Seeker's back. He wobbled in the air, but rocketed ahead, trying to outrun me. Foolish Seeker. I chased him.

He was faster than most Seekers, I'd give him that, and almost a match for a Seekess. Almost. It took me a while, but I caught him. After all, he could only run, his scarlet and gray armor standing out from the mountains like a beacon. Eventually, he made a mistake and got himself boxed into a series of cliffs. He was closed in on five sides (right, left, back, above, and below) by rock.

"What do you want from me?" Starscream yelled. I watched him for a moment, remembering him as a sparkling playing with our femme Creator, Vectra. He'd been the first of my three brothers to fly. He'd loved fancy flying like the chase through the mountains, loved to play hide-and-seek – though not as much as Skywarp, who darted from hiding spot to hiding spot through teleportation. "Answer me!"

"Your spark," I replied, trying to shove my memories away, succeeding only in pushing them back so they wouldn't show on my faceplate.

"What? You're an Autobot; you don't kill, not in cold blood like this!" the Decepticon protested. I wasn't sure exactly what "blood" was, but killing in a chilled solution of the unknown substance was apparently a bad thing. And he was right; as far as he knew, I was an Autobot femme out to murder him.

"I am a Seekess first, a subordinate of the Autobot Elders second, an Autobot never," I told him. "And as the eldest daughter of Jetstream and Vectra, it is my duty to eliminate all split trines. Your trine has split because of you, and your trinemates are dead. You must join them."

"But…I'm Jetstream's son! I'm your brother! You wouldn't kill your own brother, would you?" the Decepticon shouted. Like I didn't know already. Like this wasn't practically killing my sisters and I. Like I didn't feel the loss of him, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and our Creators in the core of my spark like a rusted gear in my chest every solar cycle.

"I know," I said simply. "That's why I'm killing you myself instead of giving you to the Autobot Elders," I said firmly. I saw Starscream's angry optics brighten with what might have been fear. "Now, you may attempt to defend yourself if you wish, but it will make no difference."

"But-" he started. I did not wait. I jetted forward, slamming him against the rock, reached out to tear through his armor to his spark, and…hesitated.

"I did not want to do this," I confessed softly. "If you had not split your trine, I would have taken you onto the _Updraft_ and left this war. But you split, so I have to kill you."

"No, you don't!" Starscream protested. I felt my determination waver, and hardened my spark.

"Yes, I do," I said. "It's the only way to save you." I left his sparkles body there and returned to my trine, Starscream's spark cradled in my hands.

The _Updraft _is not just a prison ship, though it held several cells with energon bars, or a battle ship, though it has seen its fair share of action, or a diplomatic cruiser, though it's been used as such. It is a combination of all three – like I've said before – but it's also something else.

After Vos was destroyed, only one trine-cradle was salvaged. And it was into this trine-cradle – a Seeker spark cradle meant to hold three newly sparked Transformers before they entered their first frames and bond their sparks into a trine – that Breeze, Slipstream, and I placed the sparks of our brothers. You see, a trine-cradle is also designed to wipe a spark's sense of self and re-bond it, leaving it in a state exactly like that of a newly sparked Seeker.

And into the _Updraft's_ navigation system I set, not the coordinates of Cybertron, but the coordinates of a previously unnamed moon in an unnamed system. And it is on this moon that the _Updraft_ set down for the last time, with two trines of Seekers (who had decided to follow the old ways of the Seekers, from before the Great War), one trine of Seekesses (who had at long last forsaken the Autobot Elders), and one young trine of Seeker Sparklings.

Reverted, they are no longer Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker, but Sonicshot, Stormflash, and Thunderclap.

And, yeah, okay, we did slightly reprogram all three trines, to make sure they never went back to the way they had been on Earth, but a Seekess must do what a Seekess thinks best.

And I, Draft, sister to these three young ones, trinemate to Breeze and Slipstream, daughter of Jetstream and Vectra, and co-founder (along with the others aboard the _Updraft_ on its final voyage) of New Vos, am a Seekess.

End Transmission –

**And that's that. I hope everyone enjoyed the story, and I apologize to the 'Warp, TC, and Screamer fans for killing them. But I did bring them back, so that's gotta count for something, right? **

**Anyway, please review –** **but again, please, if you don't like my story, keep it to yourself.**

**I do love reviews though.**

**And I might do a sequel, something about the reverted trine venturing beyond New Vos and meeting up with some Decepticons. Keep an eye out for it if you liked Seekess!**


End file.
